The present application relates to an aircraft comprising a fuselage defining a longitudinal axis of the aircraft and a compartment inside the fuselage, wherein along the longitudinal axis, in cross-section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the compartment is enclosed by a floor structure and a sidewall and ceiling structure extending from and above the floor structure, wherein the aircraft further comprises a partition element adapted for selectively closing a cross-section of the compartment, thereby dividing the compartment into different portions.
It is often desirable to divide an interior compartment in the fuselage of an aircraft into different areas or portions in which different temperatures prevail or can be maintained. For example, in aircraft having a cargo compartment and a cargo door, such as a rear cargo compartment and a rear cargo door, without taking specific constructional measures for the cargo door in order to provide for suitable thermal insulation, large temperature gradients with very low temperatures in the immediate vicinity of the cargo door tend to occur throughout the compartment and it is difficult to achieve and maintain a temperature suitable for the transport of passengers inside the compartment. Such constructional measures may not be desirable in certain applications requiring, e.g., quick loading and unloading. This applies, for example, to military aircraft having an aft ramp and cargo door arrangement and a corresponding aft cargo compartment, for which it is desirable to also be able to use it for the transport of troops and other passengers.
For the purpose of dividing interior aircraft compartments partition elements in the form of a thermal curtain are known which can be secured at least to the ceiling of the compartment and close the entire cross-section of the compartment, thereby providing thermal insulation between the two portions into which the compartment is divided by the thermal curtain. However, due to the fact that cargo compartments and other compartments may have a considerable height, installation of such thermal curtains requires the use of a ladder, which may increase the installation time and can be difficult in particular when installation is carried out during flight. Thermal curtains not closing the cross-section in the ceiling area are not sufficient to provide sufficient thermal insulation.